Roswell Daily Record THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
Vol. 124, No. 77 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
March 31, 2015
Tuesday
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Freshman senator racks up successes By Jeff Tucker Record Staff Writer
While the top legislative priority of state Sen. Cliff Pirtle to keep the state on the same time year-round failed in the final days of the 2015 legislative session, the freshman senator did sponsor three bills that cleared the legislative mine fields and await gubernatorial action. Pirtle, R-Roswell, gained statewide attention with his proposal to place the entire state on Mountain Daylight Saving Time. Senate Bill 377 was adopted by the Senate on March 17 by a 28-10 vote. The bill was then assigned to the
House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee, where it died before the March 21 end of the 60-day session. “The House didn’t get to my landmark legislation,” Pirtle said with a laugh Monday. “It’s just part of the process. Sometimes, you just run out of time. I’m disappointed they didn’t have time to get to it.” A fiscal impact report of Senate Bill 377 prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee said Americans have grown tired of switching clocks twice a year. “National telephone surveys conducted by Rasmussen Reports in 2009, 2010
and 2011 revealed that 47 percent of Americans ‘don’t think the time change is worth the hassle,’ while 40 percent disagree,” the LFC report states. Pirtle said if re-elected, he’d try again in 2017, the next time state lawmakers meet for a 60-day session. The 2016 session will be a 30-day legislative affair, with a much more limited scope. “I’m definitely going to try again two years from now,” said Pirtle, who was elected to the New Mexico Senate in 2012.
Pirtle bills sent to governor
Pirtle sponsored Senate
Bill 220, which awaits action by the governor. Senate Bill 220 would amend sections of the state’s Health Maintenance Organization law to establish provider credentialing requirements, while repealing a section of the New Mexico Insurance Code. “This bill would make it significantly easier for new health care providers to do business in New Mexico because it essentially forces carriers to make a determination within 45 days of whether to accept or reject a provider’s application to join the carrier’s network,” states a fiscal impact report of the bill prepared by the
Pirtle Legislative Finance Committee. “The bill would allow doctors to accept new patients much more quickly without needing to wait months or
a year to find out if their applications to join the relevant networks were approved. This helps providers with existing practices expand the number of patients they can accept, but it particularly helps providers offering services for the first time in the state.” The amended Senate Bill 220 passed the Senate by a 39-0 vote on March 2 and by the House on March 20 by a 64-0 vote. It awaits the governor’s signature or veto. Pirtle also sponsored Senate Bill 276, a bill that See SENATOR, Page A2
‘Break-athon’ raises funds for local ministry Staff Report Nearly 40 students from Life Purpose Karate met in the parking lot of Farley’s of Roswell Saturday to conduct their first “Spring Break-athon.” Kids as young as five years old broke hundreds of boards and bricks with martial arts hand and foot techniques. Boys and girls, men and women pitched in together to gather pledges from the community as a fundraiser and awareness builder for Reflections and Recovery Ministries. “It was fun. It’s a family karate thing we’re doing together,” said Jamie Dean, a mother of three
who broke boards right along with two of her children. Plenty of moms and dads helped raise money and awareness for a worthy cause, and got to spend some unusual quality time together as entire families shared the confidence building that comes from breaking. Ken Bertin, fourth-degree black belt and head instructor, said, “Breaking is not about brute force. It’s about razor-sharp focus, and believing that you can overcome any obstacle. I’m impressed with how focused our kids were today. “No injuries. Lots of
fun. And a real big pile of broken wood and bricks, donated by Roswell Lumber Do-It Center and an un-named sponsor. I have been a part of events like this for almost 20 years in Roswell, and this was the best turnout ever.” Life Purpose Karate is a family-oriented community martial arts program based out of Grace Community Church. It is a semi-traditional martial arts program with two very important twists: The program is oriented toward families, making classes an enjoyable activity that can be shared by the See BREAK, Page A3
Submitted Photos
Above and right: Life Purpose Karate raised $700 for Reflections and Recovery Saturday with its first “Spring Break-athon.” Above: Breaking a board is more about razor-sharp focus than brute force.
ENMU-R to offer Middle school art goes to college free tax preparation By Jeff Jackson Record City Editor
Staff Report ENMU-Roswell accounting students will be preparing free 2014 income tax returns for low income and elderly taxpayers for one more night on Thursday, April 9, from 4 to 7 p.m. All students are IRS-certified tax preparers for 2014 income taxes. Tax assistance is not available April 2, as students are on spring break. The service location is the Instruction Technology Center on campus, 23 W. Mathis, Room 107. The building is just west of the Performing Arts Center. Assistance will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis with no appoint-
ments. Park in visitor parking. To qualify for free tax preparation, the taxpayer’s total family income must be less than $53,000 or the taxpayer must be over the age of 65 with a simple tax return. Students will only be preparing simple returns. If you are married, both spouses must be present. They are unable to prepare Married Filing Separate returns. You must bring: • Original Social Security cards for you, your spouse, and all dependents • Picture ID’s for you and your spouse See TAX, Page A2
Seven middle school students from Roswell had artwork on display Friday at a youth exhibition in Portales. The sixth annual Juried Community Youth Art Exhibition drew 225 entries and 68 went on display in Runnels Gallery at Eastern New Mexico University. Student artists from 17 grade levels, kindergarten through college seniors, and from schools within a 200-mile radius of Portales had their paintings and other works submitted. While none of the seven from Roswell earned one of three awards per grade
level, the judging experience alone was rewarding, according to art teacher Brenda Dillon of Mountain View Middle School. “They were pretty proud of themselves. They were excited that their artwork was acknowledged like that,” said Dillon, who had four of the seven young artists from Roswell. “They were excited about it because it was an exhibition at a college and it was in competition with a lot of other schools. It wasn’t just our school or our district. That was important.” Students chose the entries from their portfolios they have been developing throughout the
See ART, Page A2
Today’s Forecast
Today’s Obituaries Page A6
HIGH 84 LOW 48
• Cindy Lou Wallace • Keith L. Schrimsher
Jeff Jackson Photos
Left: “Smile Self-Portrait” by Cesilia Gallegos, an eighth-grader at Sierra Middle School. Right: “Worm Holes” by Daniel Lara, a seventh-grader at Mountain View Middle School.
Index Classifieds...........B8 Comics..................B5 Entertainment. ....A8 Financial..............B4
General...............A2 Horoscopes.........A8 Lotteries. ............A2 Nation..................A6
Opinion.................A4 Sports. ................B1 Weather...............A8